The Forward Day by Day Meditation for December 31, 2013

We post a Forward Day by Day Meditation for every day of the year - and we invite you to consider them and talk about them here. If you'd like to comment, please register for an account at Facebook. By checking the "Post to Facebook" box when commenting, you'll be able to find and quickly link back to this page from your Facebook account. You can also find the past week's Meditations in the box at right (or below, for mobile users), or search for previous entries on the Archives page.

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TUESDAY, December 31

1 Kings 3:9. Solomon said to the Lord, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil.”

Solomon could have asked for anything, and he chose wisdom. What a fitting prayer for this last day of the year! We seem to focus on the things that Solomon did not ask for, “long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies” (1 Kings 3:11).

Normally about now the media will be filled with stories of the year in review or predictions for the year to come. Not much will change from last year, I’ll bet. Celebrities will have died, and new threats—real or imagined—will be on the horizon. Sports heroes will be celebrated, and shiny products will be on the way.

What if we turned off the twenty-four-hour news stream and all prayed for wisdom, instead? What if we all prayed fervently for wisdom about how to face the challenges of our own lives, of our homes, of our churches, and of our nation? Like Solomon, we might find God granting our request. The world might change all around us.